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Jones retained his
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight crown with a
unanimous decision over Alexander
Gustafsson in the UFC
165 headliner on Sept. 21 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
In what was perhaps the frontrunner for “Fight of the Year,” all
three judges scored it for Jones: 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46.

Gustafsson gave the champion all he could handle. He cut Jones over
the right eye in the first round with a glancing blow, and the cut
grew into a gash over time, the Swede scoring with repeated
multi-punch combinations to the head and body. After 25 minutes,
Jones was bloodied and swollen, but he had answered the first
serious challenge of his career.

Gustafsson became the first man to take down Jones in the first
round. More importantly, he stuffed 10 of the champion’s 11
takedown attempts. Trapped on the feet, Jones absorbed more
punishment than he had in any of his 19 previous professional
bouts. He sprang to life in round four, however, where he badly
stunned Gustafsson with one of his spinning trademark elbows.

In the fifth, with both men clearly exhausted, Jones scored with
his only takedown and unleashed a series of head kicks that likely
secured the victory. The win pushes him past Tito Ortiz in
the record book and gives him the all-time record for consecutive
title defenses at 205 pounds with six.

The loss halted Gustafsson’s six-fight winning streak but earned
him an untold amount of respect in the industry. Few gave the
Alliance MMA representative a legitimate chance at dethroning
Jones ahead of their unforgettable 25-minute battle.